Rusty Saber: Springfield blessed with high quality of cultural life

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

This is being written following four very full nights of working on Ozarks Public Television's TeleAuction fund raiser. For those not familiar with this televised event, my longtime specialty is the Firehouse Quickie, which I've been doing for 25 years. For some unknown reason, helping raise money for Public Television has led me to contemplate certain aspects of life in Springfield.

First, I believe the presence of both PBS and National Public Radio outlets in the community are good indicators of a cultural quality of life. Likewise, the abundance of community arts groups speak volumes about the vitality of Springfield's cultural makeup. So many art, music and dance groups abound; if I try to list them all, I'll get myself into deep trouble by omitting some.

On another matter, it seems to me that some critics delight in taking potshots at our school system. Truth be told, local schools do a good job educating our young people under some difficult conditions. Public support of schools is a necessary element for their ongoing quality. Hopefully, the support will continue.

Having spent my working life as a college professor, I can assure you that we are blessed in Springfield with an unusually wide variety of excellent public and private, religious and secular institutions of higher learning. All of them seem to be growing and improving their physical plants and programs. The phenomenal growth of Ozarks Technical Community College is yet another sign of the status of higher education in the community.

As I ponder the good life in Springfield, I hope readers will forgive me for pointing to an organization on whose board of trustees I serve The History Museum of Springfield-Greene County. Although the museum may be a well-kept secret for some, for others it is the focal point for retaining, assembling and displaying components of the rich history of Springfield and Greene County. In an effort to reduce the aforementioned well-kept secret, the museum is located appropriately enough on the third floor of historic City Hall. You pass through the museum to attend Springfield City Council meetings.

It's important for a community to preserve as much of its history as possible. Like most cities, a great deal of Springfield's history revolves around downtown; that is where people once gathered to conduct business and to socialize. To allow the historic center of a town to crumble into disuse is to forget the traditions that created its distinctiveness. If history is lost, a city is reduced to nothing more than a conglomerate of neighborhoods loosely strung together by strip malls and nationally franchised businesses.

Some visionary community leaders have vowed to preserve downtown and add new facilities worthy of attracting locals and visitors. Fruits of their efforts are evident in downtown building renovations, an eclectic collection of restaurants, businesses, loft apartments and nightclubs. The impressive Jordan Valley Park is a bold statement of Springfield's outlook toward the future.

Amid this unusual, for me, outpouring of compliments, I must comment on Springfield's leadership perspective. This can best be done by pointing to Springfield Business Journal's recent naming of its annual list of 40 Under 40. The resumes of these and past honorees reveal an ample group of talented, well-prepared young professionals providing strong leadership for years to come, which should translate into a vibrant economy.

Next week I'll probably return to my role as resident curmudgeon. I guess I got caught up in the spirit of being positive. You know, that sort of thing can become habit forming.